Parenting With Hope: 9 Days of Gospel-Centered EncouragementSample

Day 1 – An Instruction Manual for Life: God’s Word

Sometimes, it’s intimidating to teach God’s Word to our teens. Perhaps you feel as though you don’t know it very well. Maybe you feel guilty for the ways you didn’t obey your parents or God as a teenager and you feel like you can’t expect your children to do what you didn’t do. Perhaps you fear that you’ll talk about the Bible too much and they’ll become disinterested. Or, maybe you have many doubts yourself and are concerned your teens will ask questions you can’t answer.

Let me encourage you today—it’s okay to have questions. It’s okay to still be learning. It’s okay to be unsure of yourself. None of us feels up to the task! Thankfully we’re not alone. The Spirit guides us in all truth, and God brings other Christians into our lives who can offer additional wisdom and insight for our questions. Teach the biblical truth you know, read the Bible yourself, talk with your children about the questions you have, ask a pastor or teacher for help finding answers, entrust your fears to God, and teach your children that God’s grace is big enough for all their failings (and yours too!). Small steps of faithfulness can lead to big changes in our homes. Keep depending on God’s Word and His wisdom in your own life, and that will impact your children.

God loves you. He loves your teen. Today is a new opportunity to know Jesus better. May his grace guide you, protect you, and help you!